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Needing som help on a slider....

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About 6 months ago my Mom- n- Law gave each one of my kids a red eared slider as a gift. At the time it was warm and we didn't know much about them so we left them in the little takn they game in. About a 1/4 gal I think. Anyway since then one of them has passed do to ignorance but the other is doing well. I have since gotten a 5-10 gal square coral growing tank that is no longer in use and was wondeering what Ineed to do to set it up ffor the little fella. And how do you sex these things and what is their diet? Currently I have the lone one still in the small tank sitting on my kitchen counter with a desk light over it which seems to be doing the trick for a little warmth but what else do I need?

They will get quite large, my oldest one is well over a foot long, he is also over 20 years old. They need a large tank, 75 gallons or more, they need a way to get out of the water to bask under a heating lamp. i have a pile of rocks for them. I feed mine mostly floating turtle food, as well as veggies and the occasional shrimp.

That tank will only work for a matter of months, the rule of thumb is 10 gallons for every inch of turtle. The footprint is nice though. You want the water to be at least twice as deep as the turtle's shell is long. WalMart has a good deal on a 55gal tank, if you had a 55 4fter and built a cheap above tank basking platform you might could keep a male RES in it for life. It might also get to big for it it all depends on the turtle. Any female will probably outgrow a 55 and a 100 or more would be recommended but you have a decade or two to worry about that. Turtles put off a lot more waste than fish so you need double the filtering for that amount of water. Get a cheap floating platform to save swimming room and get a cheap clamp on light pointing at it from 12 to 18 inches above it. Temp of dry platform area should run 85 to 95, water should run 72 to 78. Get a UVB basking light as they require UVB light, if you buy a UVB light it will automatically put out UVA which is not true the other way around. You might be good in that tank like this for another month or two. As for sexing your's are probably way to small to identify, most RES's come to maturity 3-5 years after birth when they reach a size of 3-4 inches in males and 5-8 inches in females. A male will have extremely long front claws which he uses for his mating dance and a longer thicker tail than the females short thin tail. Also males of the same age are always smaller and more colorful than females. So if you had to from the same hatch and 1 was smaller and more colorful and one was bigger and dull the smaller is probably a male. If your not able to regulate heat in your tank and it's getting cold, let the heat fall below 55 and stay there, the turtle will brumate and be fine. The risk in temp is being below the comfort level but not low enough to brumate which causes the turtle to get cold shock and could die.

Red ear sliders(RES) needs a large tank or pond. Sexing is fairly easy once they get around five inches. Males have long tails and thier nails on the front feet grow long too. Females have very short tails. If the turtle is still young you don't want the water very deep, they can drowned. Only a couple of inches higher than the turtle is. A 20long or 30 gallon tank will work for the time being. I have used baby pools and storage bins as homes in the past. Your turtle will need a heat light with a basking spot around 85-90F, not the whole tank, just under a light. It will also need a spot to come out and bask, have the light over this. Very very important is a UV strip light. You need a bulb meant for reptiles that gives off UV light. Do NOT get the spirle compact floresent type bulbs. They can be fatal. The UV light is essencle. The turtle needs the UV rays and vitamin D to get calcuim. Without it they will have different health problems and death will follow. For food insects, fish fillets, clams, shrimp any seafood you can get from the grocery store will work. I would stay away from feeder fish as they can bring in parasites and other problems. Get calcium powder and put alittle inside some of it's food. Dark leafy greens are good too. Collard greens, peas, kale, squash.... The list goes on. Young turtles tend to eat more protein because they are growing and later in life eat more greens.
Here is a good site to learn more about turtles and other reptiles too. http://www.kingsnake.com

Good luck, turtles are messy and you will need a great filter and lots of room. But they are alot of fun too.